Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Jin Shuzhao finish speaking. After a long while, he said, "Is there really such a thing?" With a sentence, he admitted that there was a problem with his medicinal materials and obediently lost money. The husband over there died in an unknown way, the wife here has lived in someone else's house for several years, and there are still such absurd people in the world! There is no deed in the middle, and there are no witnesses, the whole case is a mess! - It's just that this confused case has cost a few lives! Kongmu, this matter is not small, can you ask clearly? There can be no half-point pool! ”

Jin Shu called: "The woman is still in the front hall, and the official will ask again." The small people in the countryside have never dealt with the yamen in their lives, and they are deceived and frightened, and they don't know what to think. If this is the case, Tao Seventeen will not recognize the wrong person, but really fight the enemy. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "I was watching from the street that day, Tao Qiqi's eyes were clear, where was the appearance of recognizing the wrong person." But what the truth is, Tao Qiqi doesn't understand it very well, he just recognizes that enemy. Kong Mu, you immediately go to Wenzhou City, first transfer Tao Seventeen's file, and then we will check it carefully. Also, send someone to inform the county lieutenant of the county and bring people to inspect the village. ”

Jin Shu answered the promise and asked in a low voice, "The official wants to arrest Ma Meng?" ”

"Don't be reckless in this matter, Ma Meng is rich and powerful, and he has a lot of customers. We are short of manpower, and if one is not good, he will lead people to openly resist arrest, and things will not be able to be cleaned up. Let the county lieutenant inspect the village first, and summon Ma Meng with other things, and then we will deal with it calmly. ”

Jin Shuzhao sighed and arched his hand: "The official is thoughtful, and the official will do it." ”

Recently, the Jingxi Road side has not been very peaceful, not only Zhang Hailiu on Shaanxi Road, but also Shao Xing of the Guanghua Army led Xuanyi to hundreds of incidents, which caused peace in several states. Don't think that a village can't make a big fuss, Du Zhongxiao doesn't want to make a big news because of himself.

Jin Shu summoned out, and Du Zhongxiao paced around alone, thinking about Tao Seventeen's case. According to the news he got before leaving the state city, Tao Seventeen confessed that a few years ago, Lu Yuhou returned to the city with his father and raised money for several days in a row. Later, one day, his father suddenly committed suicide by hanging himself, and the money raised disappeared with Lu Yuhou. At that time, it was reported to the official, and the result of the investigation was that he committed suicide because he owed money, and the matter was finally closed.

Now that I think about it, there are many inconsistencies between the events recorded in the state dossier and what Tao XVII described. Because of the age, don't have a certificate, the state believes that Tao Seventeen is wrong or nonsense. It is precisely because the case in front of him is unclear that Tao 17 has been detained in the Judicial Yuan and cannot be determined. Zhao Luan is cautious, and has always refused to accept it in such a vague way, and the case is frozen there.

Now that I think about it, if Ma Meng is in it, Lu Yuhou kills people because of money, and the state and county officials do their jobs, what Tao Seventeen said is very credible. However, this case has to be overturned, and there are too many people involved, so Du Zhongxiao has to act cautiously.

After returning to the desk and sitting down, Du Zhongxiao sighed. When he first came to this world, Du Zhongxiao had a difficult life, and he came to this day step by step, and his temperament was very cautious. If it is an ordinary official, when they get this kind of news, most of them will set up a patrol of the soldiers and horses in the village, and kill all the way to catch Ma Meng. Du Zhongxiao's first thought was that he couldn't force Ma Meng to rebel, but he couldn't do it if he had the slightest possibility. Even if it is protracted, Du Zhongxiao will use the safest method. Because he forced Ma Meng to rebel, it affected his own career, and he may be put into another book by the upper echelons, so why bother Du Zhongxiao. In this era, there are too many things about killing officials and rebelling at every turn, not to mention Liangshan in history, which has happened repeatedly in recent years.

The war in the northwest has not stopped, and the taxes in the interior are heavy, and the past few years have been a period of high incidence of cases. In addition, the army was transferred to the northwest, and the local military strength was much weaker than before, and the army itself was unstable in the first place.

Ma Meng relied on his financial resources to raise a lot of villagers in the village, and there were many outlaws in the rivers and lakes, which should not be taken lightly. What's more, Ma Meng has been operating in the local area for many years, and many state and county officials collude with him, and the people in the government are not so reliable. This is all Du Zhongxiao has to consider, and he doesn't dare to make a big deal out of it, lest he can't clean it up after the incident.

After getting the news, County Lieutenant Cheng hurriedly brought people and went to the inspection village to see Du Zhongxiao.

After the salute, Du Zhongxiao said: "County lieutenant, there is a Tan Erniang nearby, who came to report to the official, saying that he was occupied by Ma Meng, a large local family, and lived at home for several years. Her son Tao 17 killed people on the street in the state city, but he was afraid that there was something else to hide. The implication in this case is not small, and it cannot be separated from the place. ”

Cheng County Lieutenant arched his hand: "Everything is at your disposal." ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, got up and went to the front official hall with Cheng County Lieutenant.

Tan Erniang had been waiting anxiously there, and when she saw Jin Shuzhao and the two officials coming in, she hurriedly took two steps forward and said, "Official, I came out secretly from my residence, and I didn't dare to stay for a long time." If you don't have anything to ask, I'll go back first. It's not early, and I have to cook for a few people. ”

Cheng County Lieutenant said in a deep voice: "What are you anxious about! You are in the official office, who dares to talk more! Don't you live in Mameng Zhuangzi, there are people in his village, why do you need to go back and cook! ”

Seeing that this official's face was not good, Tan Erniang was a little panicked, took two steps back, and said: "Report to the official, the people's daughter has always lived in the Buddhist nunnery outside the Ma Da official, and she has never lived in the village. There were three guests in that Buddhist nunnery yesterday, and they were fierce and vicious, and they didn't dare to slack off. ”

County Lieutenant Cheng listened, looked at Tan Erniang and said: "I have been an official here for two years, and I have never heard of any Buddhist nunnery in Ma Meng, are you telling lies to deceive me?" You are a woman, you have been locked up by him for many years, why did you come to report to the official today? ”

Tan Erniang was even more panicked when she was asked, and whispered: "Ma Daguan said that it was my family to raise money, and when I paid back the capital, I will naturally let my family go." Yesterday, I heard from a guest that my son had committed an accident in the state and had to come to the yamen. ”

Lieutenant Cheng wanted to ask again, but Du Zhongxiao stepped forward to stop him and said to Tan Erniang: "You said that you live in the Buddha Nunnery, where is the Buddha Nunnery?" ”

Tan Erniang saw that this young official had a kind face, and she was a little bolder, and said: "Back to the official, that Buddhist nunnery is a few miles away from here, deep in the reeds in the north. It was originally used by Ma Daguanren's mother to chant Buddha, but when his mother died, there was only one old nun there. ”

Du Zhongxiao's heart moved, why should he go to such a hidden and remote place to chant Buddha, he was afraid that his home would not be quiet, so he would build a nunnery at the entrance of the village. Thinking of the rumors that Mamondo took in the rivers and lakes to die, I guessed that it was just a den.

Signaling Tan Erniang not to panic, Du Zhongxiao said to her: "Don't panic, everything is decided by the yamen, and no one can help you." Tell me about the three guests who came yesterday, what they were like, what they usually do, and what they say. ”

Tan Erniang said: "They are all vicious, how dare I listen to what they say." After thinking about it, he led Song Sigong and a few people to the Buddha Nunnery, and said what he had done until today.

Du Zhongxiao listened, nodded again and again, and said to County Lieutenant Cheng: "County Lieutenant, in your opinion, are these people a little embarrassed?" I guess most of them did something illegal to hide there. Yesterday, I sent someone to Mamengzhuang to count the young men, and he hurriedly sent them there, thinking that he was afraid that people would see them. It's better to take some archers to that Buddhist nunnery, and arrest those people for a trial first. ”

Cheng County Lieutenant nodded again and again, instructed people to recruit manpower, and repeatedly asked Tan Erniang about the location of the Buddha Nunnery.